The Supreme Court today took suo-motu cognisance of references to corruption in the judiciary in a Class 8 NCERT textbook and termed the issue a matter of grave concern.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi took note of the matter.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned before the court that children of Class 8 are being taught about corruption in the judiciary, calling it deeply concerning.
Justice Bagchi observed that the content appeared to run against the basic structure of the Constitution.
The Chief Justice said that both the Bar and the Bench are perturbed. He added that High Court judges are also disturbed over the issue.
The Bench made it clear that it will not allow anyone to defame the institution.
According to the new Social Science NCERT textbook for Class 8, corruption, massive backlog of cases and shortage of judges are among the challenges faced by the judicial system.
